1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to interfacing and communication among trading partners.
2. Related Art
Today's competitive business climate encourages businesses to forge trading partnerships with other businesses. However, finding a trading partner and interfacing with that trading partner in a cooperative and meaningful way is not easy. When using electronic data systems, there is generally a very high level of coordination required. The methods, processes, and systems used by one business entity might turn out to be incompatible with another business entity with whom they wish to collaborate.
In some cases one trading partner may convert its business systems, so as to use the same methods, processes, and business systems used by another trading partner. While this approach generally achieves the goal of interfacing electronic business systems, it is subject to several drawbacks. First, it can often frustrate business practices at the human level. Second, it can require educating employees in a new business system, thus creating an additional expense.
Systems integration can be quite complex at the information systems level. Machine to machine and human to machine interaction can be frustrated by lack of common communications protocols and data formats. While buying new equipment is an option, it involves a substantial added expense, as well as involving the substantial added expense of education of employees in the use of the new equipment.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a technique for allowing trading partnerships to be forged within an electronic communications framework, while allowing each trading partner to retain its unique business methods and processes without compromise of business to business interactions.